Nigerian troops reclaim town, kill scores of Boko Haram fighters

Associated Press

Published 3:42 pm, Saturday, February 21, 2015

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Nigerian troops retook a major border town and killed scores of Boko Haram fighters Saturday, Nigeria’s military said, although witnesses also reported the Islamic extremists caused many casualties in other villages.

Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said troops seized back the garrison town of Baga on Lake Chad and the border with Cameroon, after a fighter jet bombarded the area and soldiers advanced on booby-trapped roads by dismantling some 1,500 land mines.

“Many of the terrorists died while an unknown but substantial number of them fled with various degrees of injury,” Olukolade said. Many insurgents drowned in trying to escape as soldiers stormed into Baga early Friday, he added.

Elementary school in Oakland opens time capsule from 1927San Francisco Chronicle

Brides of March walk through San FranciscoSan Francisco Chronicle

WildCare rescues Western scrub jay from rodent glue trapWildCare

The Regulars: The CarpenterJessica Christian

Massive fire in San Francisco's North BeachDavid Essling

The victory, which the Associated Press was unable to verify independently, comes amid a major multinational push to halt the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria’s home-grown extremist group, which has been attacking neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

In the latest Boko Haram violence involving Niger, a military official said Saturday that seven soldiers were killed in an overnight attack on the island of Karamga in Lake Chad. Col. Salaou Barmou said 14 Boko Haram assailants were also killed in the fighting Friday night.

In a major turnaround after months of gains by Boko Haram, military from Nigeria and Chad have reported retaking at least a dozen towns in recent weeks that had been in extremist hands for months.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau last week warned he will disrupt March 28 presidential elections that are shaping up to be the most closely contested vote in the history of Africa’s most populous nation. Boko Haram wants to install an Islamic caliphate and says democracy is a corrupt Western concept.

Residents and local officials said last week that suspected Boko Haram fighters killed at least 34 and injured several others in attacks on villages near Konduga and Chibok, the town where in April last year Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls. Dozens escaped, but 219 are still missing.

The gunmen attacked the Tamsu-Shehuri village on Wednesday night where they killed more than 12 people, said a resident.